When we engage in recovery we have been summoned by God, whether we are aware of it or not (our souls know!), to His school of love for our sake and the sake of the world. 12-step recovery teaches us radical humility that enables us to radically love. In active addiction, our capacity for love—to receive love from God and others and to love them in return—is diminished. The flickering light of our gloomy and resentful hearts glows dimly, if at all. Working the “program” literally “illuminates” us, helps us to “see” that suffering and love go together and are necessary for real joy and the salvation of souls. Their union in our hearts, like nuclear fusion, gives off heartening light to all around us. The deeper our humility and trust, the more potent our suffering love and the brighter our light. 

Saint Padre Pio speaks of the amazing power of God’s light: “Be patient in enduring the loving trials that Jesus, who wants to make you like him, is making you undergo in his wonderful providence…Lift your eyes up above yourself, and you will see a shining light that participates in the light of the eternal sun” (Letter from Saint Padre Pio to Assunta di Tomaso, October 22, 1916). His uplifting words remind me of something marvelous and wise my sponsor once said: “When you receive the Host, you become a monstrance with the beauty and the strength of the Host radiating from within you. Try to act accordingly.” Wow! What magnificent images for conversion in recovery that beautifully resonate with today’s Gospel Acclamation, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16).

Saint Padre Pio, pray for us!

Reflection Questions

• How has the darkness in your soul received the light of Christ in recovery? How have others been beacons of Christ’s light to you and how have you been a beacon to others?

• What speaks most to your heart from the words of Saint Padre Pio? Do you see yourself after receiving Christ in Holy Communion as a living monstrance?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Proverbs 3:27-34
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5
Gospel: Luke 8:16-18

Reflection by Pete S.